Could indie sourpuss Todd Solondz be getting soft in his not so old age?
The creator of “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Happiness,” two of the most rigorously cruel films in recent memory, changes his tune in his latest film.
“Life During Wartime” is a sequel, Solondz style. The writer/director isn’t content with simply continuing the sad saga of the sisters from “Happiness.”
No, he changes up the entire cast, using the familiar story strains to explore the bounds of forgiveness.
And for anyone who endured the pitch black “Happiness,” there’s plenty that needs to be absolved.
Joy (Shirley Henderson) remains the saddest sack of the three “Happiness” sisters. She’s finally settled down, but her husband (Michael K. Williams) is a recovering pervert outed during the film’s opening sequence.
Sister Trish (Allison Janney) is dating again, finding love in the arms of a heavy-set divorcee (Michael Lerner). Only Helen (Ally Sheedy) appears content, her television writing career blossoming into a mantle stocked with Emmy awards.
Trish’s ex-husband Bill (Ciaran Hinds) is free after a jail term for sexually abusing a young boy – “Happiness’” most disturbing story arc. Can he reconnect with his family, or will his monstrous crimes keep in emotionally imprisoned?
For a while, “Wartime” feels like any other conventional sequel, an unnecessary continuation of characters and themes that banks on our affection for the original.
But the new film takes shape as Trish’s son, Timmy (Dylan Riley Snyder), starts exploring what it means to have a pedophile for a father. It’s a touching exploration of family ties and the ability to see the good in people – even criminals.
“Wartime” doesn’t excuse the father’s sins, nor does it whitewash them. It dares to ask the audience something more complicated. Should we root for Timmy, and everyone around him, to find peace with his father?
Lerner is a standout here, an older man bludgeoned by a past love but willing to open his heart to another damaged soul. But performances across the board are stellar.
Solondz can still shock us, witness Trish describing to her son how she felt when her new beau touched her.
Yuck.
And it’s painful to hear the sisters tear each other apart with their passive-aggressive conversations.
“Wartime’s” attempts at the supernatural pay small but potent dividends. Paul Reubens plays the ghost of Joy’s suitor we met in the opening scene in “Happiness,” a character originally played by Jon Lovitz.
Solondz awkwardly uses war, terrorism and even Judaism to chip away at his main theme, poking an prodding the characters until deeper truths emerge.
Solondz could have gone the M. Night Shyamalan route, turning his signature tics into an anchor weighing down his work.
“Life During Wartime” reveals an artist in transition, and even those alienated by his previous efforts will be curious to see where he goes next.
(Photo: Paul Reubens plays the ghost of an ex-beau who pays Joy (Shirley Valentine) an unwanted visit in “Life During Wartime.” IFC Films)
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Pee Wee is back!!!!
About time, too.
Solondz is a fascinating filmmaker. His movies are hard to watch, but undeniably powerful and haunting. “Dollhouse” captured the hellish middle school experience better than any movie I’ve seen, and “Happiness” was a powerful look at how people choose empty self-indulgence over living morally healthy lives.
Glad to hear he’s lightening his tone a bit, though, and Paul Rubens is way overdue for a comeback.
I loved “Dollhouse,” “Happiness,” and the first part of “Storytelling.” But I hope after the goopy experiment that was “Palindromes” Solondz is back on track. I’m curious to see the softening you speak of!
Yeah, put “softening” in quotes. But it def. yearns to be less abrasive than previous offerings.